Tui Group is expected to come under scrutiny over shares held by a Russian oligarch against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine.
The family of Alexey Mordashov has a 34% stake in Europe’s largest travel group worth about £1.4 billion.
He was reported by The Times as attending a conference with other oligarchs in the Kremlin held by Vladimir Putin last Thursday to discuss the economic impact of his action in Ukraine.
Update: Tui chief addresses questions over oligarch shareholder in letter to staff
Mordashov, who sits on Tui’s supervisory board, is chairman of Severstal, Russia’s largest steel company which is listed on both the Moscow and London stock exchanges.
The billionaire was appointed to the supervisory board of Tui in 2016 and his term runs until 2025.
The EU was reported on Sunday as discussing sanctions against Mordashov along with other Russian oligarchs.
The European travel giant stressed that it “does not see any impact”.
Dual listed Tui’s executive board rather than its supervisory body is responsible for its business and operations.
A Tui Group spokesman said: “He [Mordashov] holds a 34% stake, 66% of the company belong to shareholders from the EU, the US, funds as well as private investors. He is also part of the supervisory board.
“In Germany we do have a two-tier system with a supervisory board and an executive board or management board. The supervisory board provides general policy and consists equally of 10 workers’ representatives and 10 shareholder representatives – one is Mr Mordashov.
“The executive or management board implements policies, provides strategy and manages the company. Mr Mordashov is not part of that. Shareholders exercise their rights in the annual AGM. In this respect, we do not see any impact on the company and the operational business.”
The spokesman pointed out that Tui has a UK stock listing but is a Germany-domiciled German public limited company.
“As a result, Mr Mordashov is not a controlling shareholder,” he added.
“With regards to a still hypothetical question of sanctions, one should differentiate between him personally as a shareholder (this would apply to any sanctions), and Tui (where he has an investment). Thus, the above would apply: the executive board is responsible for the business and operations, we do not see any impact.”
Update: Tui chief addresses questions over oligarch shareholder in letter to staff
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